“We have to say that there’s no marked improvement in the economy or the jobs market or the housing market that is causing this improvement in the foreclosure picture,” he said.
Blomquist said the national decline, which has been going on for 10 months, is primarily due to a slow down in processing of foreclosures as a result of of the “havoc” created last October when lenders “got into hot water using slopping paperwork and documentation.”
“So, at this point, the decline is more of a short-term fix,” he said.
Locally, San Francisco County showed a 39 percent increase in foreclosure activity since June, which Blomquist attributed to a jump in bank repossessions. Similarly, activity this month in Contra Costa County increased 17 percent and Alameda County 15 percent.
But several regions outside the Bay Area are faring far worse. While the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont metro area ranks 28th nationally in foreclosure rates and Vallejo-Fairfield ranks fourth, the Stockton area ranks second. There, foreclosure activity increased 57 percent from June to July, to a rate of one in every 124 homes.
Check out the chart below, created by Fountain and online producer Lisa Pickoff-White, to see how some California counties fare in the new report.
County |
Notices of default |
Total in foreclosure |
CA Foreclosure Rate Rank |
Percent Change from June 11 |
Percent Change from July 10 |
|
Alameda |
802 |
2096 |
32 |
14.72 |
-37.04 |
Contra Costa |
787 |
2166 |
13 |
17.33 |
-11.77 |
Marin |
78 |
226 |
51 |
-5.44 |
-7.38 |
Monterey |
191 |
577 |
28 |
27.94 |
-7.97 |
Napa |
61 |
198 |
31 |
3.13 |
-17.15 |
San Francisco |
186 |
462 |
58 |
38.74 |
21.58 |
San Mateo |
228 |
571 |
50 |
-28.54 |
7.13 |
Santa Clara |
593 |
1573 |
47 |
-13.62 |
-10.73 |
Santa Cruz |
105 |
354 |
36 |
-4.84 |
54.59 |
Solano |
344 |
1076 |
4 |
32.84 |
-2.89 |
Sonoma |
213 |
714 |
34 |
4.39 |
10.19 |
San Joaquin |
670 |
1852 |
1 |
57.35 |
-6.93 |
For more on the Bay Area housing market, listen to Wednesday’s Forum program.